NNMi can use LDAP for authenticating users, with or without SSL. Recently a customer changed the SSL certificate used on their LDAP server, which broke NNMi authentication. NNMi trusts one specific certificate for verifying SSL connectivity to the LDAP server, so changing the certificate broke the chain of trust. To save me time when this comes around again, I’ve documented the steps for fixing this:

This is a companion post to my review of the technical differences between NNMi and IMC. That one tried to stay focused on technical matters, but this post is more opinion-based. It is intended to help potential customers decide which one is right for them. I am not going to directly compare them to the many other NMS products on the market - let’s keep this to a straight HP vs HP discussion.

29 Jun 2013
It can be hard to understand the differences between HP's NNMi and IMC. Both offer a great range of network management capabilities. Here I outline the technical similarities and differences between the products. (Read more...)

24 Jun 2013
Getting a certification isn't like a degree - it expires. Each renewal cycle, you need to decide if it's worth putting in the effort to renew it. My advice: Think carefully, and don't just casually let them lapse. (Read more...)

21 Jun 2013
Recently I upgraded an HP SIM system from 7.1 to 7.2 on Windows 2008 R2. After the upgrade, SNMP discovery and data collection failed for all systems - servers, switches, blade enclosures, etc. WMI monitoring/discovery of Windows-based systems was working, and SNMP traps were being received, but SNMP polling was failing. Here's how I diagnosed and fixed it. (Read more...)

I attended HP Discover in Las Vegas this year as a blogger and speaker, courtesy of HP. HP Discover is HP’s main technology conference. It’s held once a year in Las Vegas, and covers everything that HP does. It’s a big conference, with a lot going on, and I only had time to cover a small part of it. This means my take on it may be quite different to another attendee’s. I’ve broken up my thoughts into three key areas - people, vision, and technology. Ultimately they are all related - the right people, with the right vision, will develop the right technology.

17 Jun 2013
I spoke at HP Discover in Las Vegas this year, on IMC Customisation, with Chris Young, Aaron Paxson, and Rick Kauffman. Overall I felt it was OK, but we could have done better. Here's a few of the lessons learnt. (Read more...)

In an age of instant world-wide communications, some might ask why we still need IT conferences. It turns out that no matter what people say, nothing beats being in the same place as a large number of people with similar interests. The learnings and interactions go well beyond anything you get from reading a manual or watching a webcast. Casual interactions with people in the hallway will vastly broaden your horizons, and help build up useful network connections that may help for the rest of your career. For vendors, the showroom floor offers great opportunities to introduce customers to your products and establish new connections.

HP has recently released a free version of HP NNMi. This gives you a perpetual license to run NNMi, with some limitations. It’s not completely crippled freeware, and may be worth a look if you want basic fault monitoring in a lab or small network.